NOW Leader Calls Anti-Bird Campaign ‘Rampant Sexism’

Eleanor Smeal, president of the National Organization for Women, Tuesday condemned the campaign against California Chief Justice Rose Elizabeth Bird as an “instance of sexism gone rampant.”

Speaking at a press conference at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, Smeal said Bird was being singled out despite a voting record substantially similar to other members of the state Supreme Court.

Bird has been the principal target of election-year opposition groups. However, the same groups, led by conservative politicians, law enforcement officials and crime victims, are also working to defeat two male justices, Joseph Grodin and Cruz Reynoso. In all, six of the court’s seven members are up for election in November.

Smeal also used the occasion to speak out against the nomination of William H. Rehnquist for chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. Smeal said that Rehnquist’s hostile views toward women’s rights would “jeopardize the interests of more than half the nation’s population.”

Called Attacks ‘Smoke Screen’

Regarding Bird, Smeal said that the attacks on the California chief justice’s record on death penalty cases are a “smoke screen” obscuring what her opponents like least about Bird, which, according to Smeal, are Bird’s opinions on behalf of women’s, civil and consumer rights.

Smeal called the campaign against Bird “a concerted effort by big business to undo her because of her opinions on behalf of the little guy.”

The local chapter of NOW has previously indicated its support for all six members of the court running for election, based on the court’s record in a number of areas affecting women and families.

NOW officials have singled out for praise several cases including ones that: gave indigent women access to state-funded abortions; prohibited apartments and condominiums from excluding families with children; gave unmarried couples the same rights as married couples in property settlements; required boys’ clubs, in certain instances, to open their facilities to girls, and declared that women and men have equal job rights under the state and federal constitutions.